The Morning Fix: Galaxy changes orbit! New look for Early Show.
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After the coffee. Before figuring out that fine line between clever and stupid.
The Skinny: Today’s headlines include Time Warner Cable’s latest deal for its new Los Angeles sports channel, Sony Corp. wants to get into the distribution business , reviews of ‘The Descendants’ and a new Howard Cosell biography.
Goal! Time Warner Cable has snagged the Galaxy soccer team for its new West Coast regional sports channel. It is the second franchise the channel has landed, the first being the Lakers, which will leave Fox starting in 2012. The Galaxy didn’t come cheap. Time Warner Cable’s 10 year-deal averages out to $5.1 million per season. That’s far more than Fox Sports West was paying. Time Warner Cable is also expected to make a run for the Dodgers. More on the agreement from the Los Angeles Times.
Everyone wants in on the action. Sony Corp. is toying with the idea of using its PlayStation consoles as a cable box of sorts that can deliver channels via broadband. The challenge will be for Sony to get favorable deals from programmers that make such a venture worthwhile. Dish Network has also been mulling over a similar Internet play. Details from the Wall Street Journal.
New morning. CBS unveiled its new lineup for ‘The Early Show,’ the network’s long-suffering morning program. Joining the on-air team are Charlie Rose and Gayle King. Chris Licht, who used to produce MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ program, will executive produce the new version of ‘The Early Show,’ which will even get a new name (‘The Morning Fix’ is taken so don’t even think about it). CBS’ strategy is to try to be a little more serious than NBC’s ‘Today’ and ABC’s ‘Good Morning America.’ There will be less lifestyle and gossip stories and more hard news and politics. More on the latest version of ‘The Early Show’ from the New York Times and Los Angeles Times.
New warden. Fox’s ‘Alcatraz’ hasn’t even premiered yet and there’s already a new executive producer on the J.J. Abrams drama about ... well it’s too complicated to explain here but it involves Alcatraz inmates and time travel. At least I think that’s what it is about. According to Deadline Hollywood writer Nellie Andreeva, Elizabeth Sarnoff is out as co-creator and executive producer. She is being replaced by Jennifer Johnson and Daniel Pyne. Johnson had worked on Abrams’ ‘Lost’ and Pyne is a feature writer.
Lots of bite. The latest ‘Twilight’ movie ‘Breaking Dawn’ is expected to have as fanatical a following overseas as it does here. Variety looks at the franchise’s track record abroad and what ‘Breaking Dawn’ is expected to rake in.
New digs. United Talent Agency is moving to the old Hilton Hotels headquarters near Beverly Hills City Hall. The new space is pretty big and UTA is going to spend millions sprucing up, including putting in a screening room, per the Los Angeles Times.
Inside the Los Angeles Times: Betsy Sharkey on ‘The Descendants.’ A review of a new Howard Cosell biography.
-- Joe Flint
Follow me on Twitter. I can’t be bought. Twitter.com/JBFlint
